Pre-visualization is a technique whereby a script or storyline is rendered into one or more images representative of that script or storyline. Traditional methods involved the generation of comics, storyboards, proposed frame sketches, etc., by an artist reading the script in an attempt to capture a writer's or director's vision. More recently, computer animation, possibly even using motion capture technologies with an actor or stuntman, have been used to produce proposed pre-visualizations for later review by a director.
However, a common problem with all of these approaches is the fact that all of these pre-visualization activities are merely attempts by others to capture the vision (action, style of the shot, etc.) of a director on a scene by scene director. While a director or producer might review a script with a traditional pre-visualization team prior to generation of the pre-visualization materials, it is a common problem that the end result is not what a director or producer ultimately wants. This may be on the level of disliking one particular action sequence, not liking a series of pans or angles on some or all of the pre-visualization materials, or simply not liking the feel of the pre-visualization materials.
Dislike of the pre-visualization materials by a director or producer sends a pre-visualization team back to the drawing boards for generating second (or multiple) attempts to capture the vision of the director before the film can move forward. Accordingly, this process is expensive and inaccurate, involving many artists and/or animators over a several weeks or months, before further production can proceed. Additionally, because the creative vision of the producers and directors was not ongoing in the animators' process, all this work might be scrapped when the final product was shared with the Studio, exec producers or the director.
Also, in general, motion capture of live performance in real time has also been extremely inefficient and expensive. For example, in the making of the film AVATAR, James Cameron's LightStorm production company developed a filming system and process requiring; costly, tethered light reflective mo-cap suits, a huge (warehouse sized) volume filled with IR cameras and HD cameras, and a heavy and bulky virtual hand-held, tethered camera wielded by the director (weighing approximately 35 lbs). The footage secured within that virtual camera was limited artistically to a camera lens view of the action, and the walking distance of the director. Additionally, the actual actors who's performances were necessary for the production spent months on call and on set to pre-capture their contributions to the film, thus further representing huge financial and time expenses. Because of these limitations, the captured footage was actual final film footage (which would have been captured after the pre-visualization stage).
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved system, method and apparatus for rapid film pre-visualization that avoids the above described problems and disadvantages.